Bean Buzz!

I was part of the generation who was taught that “milk does the body good.” I even collected those “Got Milk?” ads in middle school. One of my favorite things to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner was a big bowl of Cheerios with ice cold milk.

She and her business partner Sivan Fraser are inviting the public to attend the Emerging Chefs Harvest Moon Showcase in Boynton Beach Thursday through Sunday. The event starts with a five-course dinner of all plant-based foods at the Secret Garden Cafe at 410 E. Boynton Beach Blvd.

I’m not a vegan, nowhere near being so, but I have a vegan sampler plate in front of me and I am about to dig in, more curious than hungry, on this particular afternoon. The vegan selection, though, is only one slice of the story at the Secret Garden Cafe, which is part community food pantry, part nutrition education center and part culinary incubator.

by Randall Rodriguez at the Bean Scene Sunset Marketplace. By Lona O’Connor Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star Ocean Ridge resident Naomi Donner receives a ‘sacred sound session’ Twice a month in a small parking lot on Boynton Beach Boulevard, you can get a tarot reading, a massage, a vegan meal and top it all off with a burly man who strategically places Tibetan singing bowls along your prone body and then gently strikes the bowls with a gong, sending vibrations through your body.

For most people considering a plant-based diet, one thing tends to hold them back: an obsession with all things cheese. Creamy, savory, delightful cheese. Luckily, this is 2015, and there are plenty of mouthwatering alternatives to the traditional stuff, many of which are cruelty-free and healthier than their cow’s milk…